A Founding Father's Octoberfest

Another Boston Octoberfest beer is in a glass tonight. Sam Adams' Octoberfest.  Since Sam Adams is a microbrewery, but a pretty big microbrewery, it makes you wonder how little a brewery has to be to be a microbrewery?  Sam Adams has a national following, after all. Still, it's not Budweiser or Miller which each have breweries spread across the nation.

Their website says, "Our version of the classic Oktoberfest lager blends 5 roasted malts for a rich, hearty flavor while Bavarian Noble hops add a touch of bitterness." (http://www.samueladams.com/craft-beers/octoberfest) Samuel Adams usually has good products. I cannot say that I've tried anything I didn't like.  Although, I must admit that I've a little hesitant about buying fashionable beers, when I've had a Sam Adams I've enjoyed it.

The same is true for their Octoberfest. The aroma is a tad hoppy, as it probably should be. The head was a little disappointing  as have several of those I've tried so far. Yet, when I took a mouthful, I was surprised by the toasty, malty, full-bodied flavor, with just a hint of a hoppy aftertaste.  It's really good!

I've been looking for single-bottle beers (or cans, as the case may be) that are in the store. While I'm just tasting around, I don't want to invest in a full six-pack.  But, I may be tempted to go for a full six of the Sam Adams' Octoberfest. Just to be sure, I bought one of their Harvest Pumpkin Ales, too! But that's a story for another post.

The New England Octoberfest

Today's Octoberfest selection was from Boston's Harpoon brewery, Harpoon Octoberfest.  Not a creative name, but at least the label isn't covered in blue Octoberfest checkers like some of the other Octoberfest brews.

Harpoon's Octoberfest is a crisp, full-bodied brew. According to their website, it's "brewed with abundant quantities of Munich, Chocolate, and Pale malts. Those malts provide a solid, full body and create the beer’s deep color.  It is a rich, flavorful beer." (http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/beer/13/Octoberfest) 


The aroma was neither too hoppy, nor too malty. In fact, although I took some deep inhales, to be honest, I'm not sure I really got much of an aroma from the beer.

I did, however, find it quite tasty, by far the richest flavor of the three I've tried so far.  It was more malty, the hops were understated, so they didn't get in the way of the flavor.

According to their tasting notes, I don't agree with all of their details.

Appearance: garnet-red color with a firm, creamy head. 

Aroma: hop aroma, (not overpowering but present)

Mouth feel: full-bodied, smooth, and malty           

Taste: gentle bitterness to balance any residual sweetness  

Finish: soft and malty with a mild bitterness  

I didn't notice the bitterness they describe in the taste or finish. Perhaps a tad in the taste--that I describe as "crispness", but as I wrote above, it didn't have the hoppy aftertaste I expected, and I was pleased with it overall.

Apparently the folks at Harpoon's two breweries, one in Boston and the other in Vermont, host an Octoberfest blowout at both breweries.  I'll bet those are quite some events, and the Harpoon Octoberfest is a great beer for any celebration.

October in Northwest Houston

The next stop on my at-home Octoberfest tour is a local offering from Karbach Brewing Company, the creatively-named Karbachtoberfest.

Karbach has a number of nice beer offerings. Their website lists their regular and seasonal lineup (http://www.karbachbrewing.com/beers/main).

The brewery is fairly close to home, too. It's not too far from where the original St. Arnold's Brewery was located, and although we've driven by the Karbach plant a couple of times, I've never been on a tour.

I am a fan of a couple of their beers, including the Sympathy for the Lager and especially the Weisse Versa Wheat.  The seasonal beer I've tried, Love Street, was good and I'm thinking of looking for their Barn Burner Saison. It's been on the shelves recently, but I haven't seen it in a couple of weeks. I hope I didn't miss the boat this year.

As I look at their lineup, however, I note they really seem to like IPAs. I'm not a big fan of the hoppy IPA, however. I'll drink them, and some are pretty good, but they're certainly not my first choice.  I like a more malty than bitter beer. And, as I wrote above, I do like wheat beers. It's just a personal preference, and IPAs are certainly seem to be popular among the microbrewery fans.

So, I looked forward to pulling the tab on the Karbachtoberfest. The color is nice, but compare the head on the beer to the head on the New Mexican Octoberfest I tried a few days ago.  Also, the aroma of the beer was a little limited. It wasn't as robust or as memorable as the Santa Fe brewery's Marzen. I was a little disappointed. It's not an especially full-bodied drink, either.

As for the flavor of the beer, it's not bad.  It's not especially malty, and certainly not hoppy at all.  According to the specs on the Karbochtoberfest, the alcohol is about even with the Santa Fe beer, but to tell you the truth, it wasn't especially noticeable in the aroma, nor in the flavor.

All in all, I felt this beer was a little bland, and I was a bit disappointed with the tasting, but not so much so that I wouldn't try it again. In fact, one thing that struck me about the Karbachtoberfest is that I could easily see someone buying a six-pack and enjoying it in one evening.  Maybe that's what the brewer was going for, something appealable to the occasional quaffer...or maybe the serious beer guzzler.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons I would be willing to buy another can or two and try it again. It's not something that I wouldn't buy again. I probably will, but I suspect there are better Octoberfests out there. It just depends on what you're looking for in a beverage.

A New Mexican Octoberfest

While shopping at the grocery store today, I decided that I would try several of the various Octoberfest beers on the shelves.

An Octoberfest beer, or Marzen (because they are brewed in March), was a beer brewed in the spring then held until the Fall.  It's a copper-colored beer.  According to Beer Advocate, "Märzenbier is full-bodied, rich, toasty, typically dark copper in color with a medium to high alcohol content."

The first Octoberfest I tried was Santa Fe Brewing Company's Oktoberfest. 

It's a good beer.  According to the brewery's page, it has about 6% alcohol, and is both malty and just a tad hoppy...but the hops are not too strong.  Click here for the Santa Fe Brewery's description.

You might think that because it's a medium-colored beer it might be a heavy-tasting beer, but Oktoberfest is surprisingly light in flavor. It has a clean smell, as a lager should...a bit malty, with some of the hops and alcohol shining through, but not overwhelming at all.

It had a good clean taste, and was very enjoyable. Although I only bought one...I'm already ready for another.

I think this was the first of Santa Fe's offerings that I've tried, and I'm glad I did.

I Saw the Elephant....

It's been a year since I've posted. Part of that was planned. I just finished a year as Faculty Senate president at my university, and also President of H-Net Council.  During that time, writing anything would could have reflected negatively on my roles at the time, so I opted for quite.  Now, I feel more free to post.

As part of my removing myself from the positions I've held the past year and a half, we took a family vacation across America....and I mean literally across America.

It was popular in the mid-19th century to use the phrase "seeing the elephant" to describe a life-changing event, especially popular with people going West for the first time.  Although a student of the American West from a historical perspective, this was only the time I've really gone to see the Great West. I've driven through to Las Vegas, stopping at Grand Canyon and seen the lower Rockies at Albuquerque (Sangre de Christo mountains) before, but have never been north of New Mexico.  This trip took us from Houston to Glacier Park near Canada, roughly 4,600 miles in 10 days.

The trip up along the full length of the American Rocky Mountains was really something! Two of the sights I've always wanted to see, I finally got to see: Mount Rushmore and Old Faithful. These alone were worth the trip. I've wanted to see Colorado, Devil's Tower, the Little Bighorn and the Black Hills for some time, too.  This was my opportunity.  It was my first trip to the National Parks; it was the first time I stayed in a National Park; the first time I saw live elk, antelope, and buffalo in the wild. It was the first time I drove in the mountains, the first time I saw a glacier, the first time I made a trip of this distance by car.

I took over 900 photographs, and it will take me some time to go through them all.  Besides taking my in-laws to the place where they met, and taking a nice vacation trip, it was a way for me to prepare a course on the history of the American West, and I really think it was good preparation, because I got to see so much of what makes the West the West.